A Meeting of Minds
by Kitty Smith
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke have known each other their whole lives- under the names Teme and Dobe. When two boys who have only interacted through dreams meet, what will happen? Rated T for safety and later content. narusasu sasunaru sasukexnaruto HIATUS
1. Teme?

**"The muse just hit me over the head with a rather large inspiration- I'm gonna go type now." –Kitty Smith**

**"That felt like some sort of crossdimensional spatial transference!" –Luke in Doctor Who**

**Rated M for later content and safety**

**Sasunaru- aka boyxboy, don't like, don't flame.**

**DISCLAIMER- I OWN NOTHING! SERIOUSLY! NARUTO IS NOT MY PROPERTY! (Because you all thought it was, right? XD)**

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Naruto sighed as he lay down on his bed, staring at the cracks in the ceiling of his more-than-humble apartment. Being all of sixteen, and infamous at that, an apartment the size of the average broom closet seemed better than the other options, namely- homelessness. Naruto sighed again, thinking about the day's events. Sakura, his pink-haired teammate, had decided to take it upon herself to "civilize" him, and he had been subjected to all kinds of torment. The one on his mind at the moment would not surprise anyone who knew him. _Eating ramen is an _art_. If you go about the way _she_ wants, I'd be shocked if you could finish a bowl within five minutes!_ He growled, remembering the way she had criticized his seamless slurping. _"No! You have to stop between bites and chew and swallow! And only put enough in your mouth so you can still talk without being rude! And wipe your mouth! You'll be meeting our new teammate soon!" And on and on and on…_Naruto rolled over onto his side, hoping some sleep would put the matter out of his mind.

"SASUKE-KUN! I'M SO GLAD YOU MOVED BACK TO KONOHA!" Sakura bounded over to a dark-eyed, pale-skinned youth. "I can't wait until you meet Kakashi-sensei! And well, I guess Naruto too, but he's not really as important and- OH! I can't wait to see the look on Ino-pig's face when I walk to the bridge with _you_! My god-" The afore-mentioned Sasuke Uchiha drowned the babbling girl out, unconcerned with her words. He inwardly rolled his eyes, _You'd think meeting me _once_ meant we were the best of friends._

He cut her off impatiently, "Sakura-san." He stressed the honorific, "I need to go unpack. I haven't been in the manor since- for years."

Sakura immediately adopted the look of pity that the dark-haired Uchiha despised over all others, "Oh, I'm so sorry, it slipped my mind! I'll give you some time alone…" She very nearly sprinted away, over-eager to please the love of her life, although some may argue it was a shallow love indeed to have grown from a meeting and a half.

Sasuke took a deep breath when she had gone, and, carrying his bags, walked determinedly into the house. He barely managed to keep his bags in hand when he walked in. It was _exactly_ how he left it. Bloodstains and all. Biting his lip, he wondered how he would remove the stains. They looked large enough to merit assistance, but he couldn't think of anyone he could ask. Well, there was one person- _No. _Sasuke shook his head firmly, as if trying to dislodge an irritating idea by force alone, _He can't even exist. I couldn't ever pour my heart out to anyone in this world, so it makes sense that he-_it_-does not exist, at least out of my head…_ He rubbed his temples and tried to focus on the cleaning supplies he would need, but he soon had enough of that and headed for one of the guest rooms- at least they would be blood free, if a little dusty.

Naruto opened his eyes, only to see white stretching in every direction. He felt both apprehensive and a little excited. His reoccurring dream had tapered off a bit over the past month, leaving him relieved and upset- a most confusing mix of emotions. You see, for as long as he could remember, he had had, at least five times a week, a dream of total white. Of having everything around him be blank, and for as far back as the dream went, there was always only one other person there with him. They had never exchanged names, both afraid and unwilling to discover the other truly did not exist, although neither would admit they believed the other did. Naruto ran a hand through his blond hair and waited for the other to arrive. His bright blue eyes closed as he remembered the very first time they had met in this blank, empty world.

_Naruto threw himself into his bed, sobbing profusely, and creating a large wet spot on his pillow. _Why does everyone hate me? What did I do wrong? Why can't I fix it?_ These musings were too much for the five year old, and his crying escalated. For hours, he drifted in and out of awareness, although he continued to weep, and finally, his body decided his state of mind for him and he fell into a deep sleep. In his mind, he created a haven, not realizing another was doing very nearly the same thing, an empty world, with no one to scoff, or ridicule, or harm him. A place where he was just himself, and no one would judge it. He sank deeper into this dream, and soon opened his 'eyes' to a blank world. No up, down, left or right. No buildings, no people, nothing but himself. Except- far off, or perhaps close by, for distance has no meaning in the mind- was something like a black dot. As he grew closer, not sure if he was walking or swimming or flying, he realized it was a boy his age, with jet black hair and matching eyes that swam in his pale skin. When he realized the boy was also crying, his own tears were stopped by the instinct to help the other boy. He put a hand on his shoulder, and the boy jumped, startled. The dark-haired boy said the first thing that came to mind, "Who are you?"_

_Naruto sniffed and wiped the remaining tears off his face. He opened his mouth to answer but found he had no desire to see this boy react in the same way the ones at his kindergarten class had, "I don't want to tell." He frowned, as he had not meant to say that out loud._

_Surprisingly, the other boy nodded, "I know what you mean." He, too, wiped the tears off his face, but much more discreetly, "Whenever I say who I am, people look at me funny. Then, they either try to be friends with me 'cause they wanna see my nii-chan, or they make fun of me for not being as good as nii-chan." He hung his head, "I'm trying, though…"_

_Naruto sat down and said, "Whenever I'm around people look at me like how they look at yucky bugs. I think I did something wrong, but I don't know what it is!" Naruto's voice rose a bit in volume at the end, and he pounded the whiteness in frustration. "I tried asking someone once, but they wouldn't even look at me!"_

_The boy, unsure of what to do, copied the blonde's earlier gesture and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Maybe you _didn't_ do anything…?"_

_Naruto thought this over, but quickly bounced back from his melancholy, seeing as his concentration was much worse as a child, "Maybe, maybe not, but I'm not gonna think about it 'cause I'm just gonna prove them wrong anyway!"_

_"…How?"_

_Naruto stood up and thumped his chest, "_I'm_ gonna be Hokage!"_

_And the other boy just couldn't help it. He burst out laughing._

Naruto smiled at how angry he had gotten, and then how furious when the boy had explained that he thought it was ridiculous, and very unlikely. When Naruto looked around, since he had finally come out of his memories, he noticed that very same person he had been remembering was sitting next to him with his head on his knees.

"Teme?" He asked hesitantly, using the (rather insulting) name he had given the teen when they were younger.

Teme groaned and leaned into Naruto's side, responding in kind, "Dobe."

"What's wrong with you? Last time you were thiiis close to jumping up and down and giggling fiendishly!" Teme shot a Glare Of Doom, patented by none other than himself, at Naruto and dug his face back into his knees. "Come on, tell meeee!" Naruto wheedled, "I'd blackmail you but I know everything about you _except_ your naaaaaame! Which is rather detrimental to the blackmaaaaail!"

"… Do you even know what detrimental means?"

Naruto huffed, "It means bad for!"

Teme laughed into his knees, and then turned his gaze on Naruto, who noticed the signs that he was trying not to cry. "I went back to my house today."

Naruto winced and another flashback, compressed into a second, hit him,

_For the first time in two years, Naruto had arrived after Teme in the dream world, and he was shocked to see Teme on the ground in the spread eagle position, sobbing his heart out. He was next to him in a second, "Teme, what's wrong?"_

_Teme didn't even try to stop crying and Naruto found himself gathering the taller boy into his arms, somewhat fearful the brunette would push away. His worries were squashed when Teme held the blonde in a dead man's grip, crying even harder into Naruto's shoulder. Naruto rocked back and forth, vaguely remembering Iruka-sensei, one of his old teachers with brown hair and a scar across his nose, doing the same for him, and how it had helped to calm him down. Teme's sobs became quieter and quieter until they were merely snuffles, and he tried to push away from Naruto, who didn't let go. "Let go of me," he sniffed._

_"No." Naruto stated firmly, "Not until you feel better."_

_Burning with embarrassment at having cried and then clung to the blonde, Teme relaxed in Naruto's grip. "Aren't you going to pester me for details like always?"_

_Naruto shook his head, even though the other couldn't see this movement, "Not until you're ready. Remember that time you helped _me_ when those guys burned down the place I was living? I won't force you into telling me unless I get too impatient."_

_Teme laughed weakly, "Honest to a fault…" He sniffed, and took a deep breath, "My family's dead. My whole clan, just gone, and all of them were killed by nii- by Itachi."_

_This was the first time Naruto had heard the name of Teme's nii-chan, and he felt he would hate it and its owner through all of time for hurting his best- and only- friend. Sure, Sakura didn't _hate_ him, but she sure didn't _like_ him, so he put her out of his mind when the word friend came up. This made the increase in his anger monumental compared to if he had had many friends and this was but one of them, and he swore for the first time in his life, "That asshole! He should be forced to die a million deaths for every person he killed and for every second he made you cry!"_

Naruto's flashback ended in the time it took him to blink.

"It's _exactly_ how I left it…" Teme mused angrily.

Sasuke noticed the Dobe pale at his words, "The… Bodies?"

Sasuke shook his head and the blonde sitting next to him regained some of his color before Sasuke continued, "Just the bloodstains."

Dobe seemed to ignite with righteous fury, his blue eyes flashing against tanned skin, "WHO WOULD LEAVE BLOODSTAINS FOR YOU TO COME BACK TO? WHY WOULD-"

Sasuke cut him off, feeling drained, "Ninja have more important things to do."

"I'm a ninja too, you know, and _I _woulda!"

"Would _have_," Sasuke corrected automatically, sounding weary and depressed, "And no, Dobe. I doubt you would've."

"Te-meeeeee!" Dobe whined somewhat angrily.

"You're telling me you'd scrub away at bloodstains for who knows how long so someone you don't even know who left the house abandoned wouldn't be scarred on the off-chance that he'd return?" Sasuke shot Dobe an irritated look and buried his face in his knees again, still leaning against the Dobe.

"I…" Sasuke could feel Dobe take several breaths before continuing, "I just wish I could actually be there to help."

Sasuke opened his eyes.

Naruto rubbed his throbbing head and took in his surroundings; blue walls and a sad excuse for a kitchen jammed up against the twin bed. The bathroom, at least, was not jammed into this space but connected to the room and filled with a toilet, shower stall, and sink. The little window to his apartment showed Naruto the sun was already above the horizon and he groaned while throwing his clothes on. Teme waking up had forced him out of the dream, and he wished that Teme could have slept longer, at least for the blonde's benefit if not for his own. They had discovered that if one of them left the dream, both of them left the dream, even though the boys were still not sure the other existed out of their own mind. Naruto pulled on a clean-ish outfit, grabbed a banana, and hurried out the door and down the steps to the ground floor. _If I can't have ramen, a banana's the next best thing._ As he made the trip down, he couldn't help but worry about Teme, before harshly reprimanding himself for fussing about a figment of his imagination born from his own loneliness. So what if Teme constantly surprised him, Naruto had an overactive imagination, and that was that.

Belatedly, he remembered there was supposed to be a new addition to the team today, and he quickened his step. He all-out ran when he saw that ot was 11:46 AM, as he was supposed to meet his team at the bridge at noon.

Sasuke waited impatiently for his new team leader to show up. He scowled,_ Being late better npt be one of their habits._ He had begun tapping his foot when a silver-haired man with a mask over the bottom half of his face appeared, in that all too silent way that ninjas do.

"You must be Uchiha! Welcome back to Konoha!" The man grated on Sasuke's nerves, or maybe it was just in Sasuke's nature to be annoyed.

"Hn." He muttered noncommittedly.

"I'm Kakashi, your teacher. Shall we introduce you to your new team?" Without waiting for a response the tall Jounin spun on his heel and strolled leisurely away, his nose buried in a book. Sasuke wasted no time in following the weirdo, although he was toying with the idea of running as far and fast as he could in the other direction. Trying not to think about it, his mind wandered to the subject of Dobe and he gave himself to trying to decipher that last comment. _Yes_, he knew that Dobe wanted to help, but… Did it mean he wanted to meet in real life? Or that he was admitting that he didn't exist, and therefore could not help? Or maybe, he was in a coma somewhere, and returned to his comatose body everytime Sasuke woke up. Sasuke mentally shuddered at that thought. He couldn't imagine being trapped inside himself and never wanted to have that experience. The walk seemed to fly by as they walked down the busy street, chock to the brim with people and animals, although a few ninja could be seen. Sasuke eyed the hitae-aes(?) and remembered that he hadn't worn his because his brother had. Shaking the unpleasant thoughts out of his head, he spotted a steaming pink-haired ninja girl pacing back and forth on a bridge and a blonde with messy hair trying to calm her. He could only see the blond boy's back, but his heart skipped a beat. _What is- His clothes! They look just like- I can't believe this- No. It _can't_ be him. It just looks like him from behind. He isn't real, and even if he _was_ real he sure as hell wouldn't be in the same team as him, that would be nearly impossible, a trick of fate._ As he grew nearer, though, his heart grew surer, while his brain rambled off reasons why it couldn't be so. Some of his inner conflict must have shown on his face, and the man next to him raised the eyebrow that wasn't hidden by the hitae-ae over his right eye. Sasuke immediately schooled his features to apathy and rose his own eyebrow right back at the weirdo. Kakashi shook his head at his new charge's stubbornness and hollared to his others, "HEY! I'M HERE!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Two heads whipped around with murder in their eyes and in that moment Sasuke knew. How many times had he had that look directed at _him_? Dobe, and Sasuke was sure it was him at this point, suddenly froze as he locked eyes with Sasuke.

"TEME?"


	2. NO!

"TEME?" His voice rose in pitch at the end and Sasuke saw bewilderment and joy battle over his expressions and in the end, joy won. Dobe lept at the stoic boy and tackled him to the ground in a rib-crushing hug.

"Hey Dobe," Sasuke gasped, "I… have to breathe in reality…"

Dobe smiled sheepishly and let go of the bigger boy, "I was just really surprised, and I wasn't sure if you were-" Sasuke narrowed his eyes and made a chopping motion across his neck. "-moving to _Konoha_." Dobe finished, catching on to Sasuke's gestures.

"You know Sasuke-kun, Naruto?" Sakura asked incredulously, unknowingly giving both boys the names they needed.

"Uh, yeah. Since we were five." Do- _Naruto_ grinned uneasily, still sitting on Sasuke's stomach.

"Is this true Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's voice rose in pitch a little more than necessary at the end of her question.

"Hn." He pushed Naruto off him and brushed himself off. Naruto scowled at being pushed into the dirt but merely stood up without retaliation, causing Sakura to wonder exactly how close they were. _Maybe,_ Sakura mused, _I can use him to get close to Sasuke-kun…_

"Narutooo-kuun," She cooed, honey dripping from her every word, "Would you and Sasuke like to go to lunch with me?"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke pleadingly, and Sasuke realized this was the girl Naruto had talked about so much, describing her as "beautiful and kind beyond measure." She looked rather plain to him, but he still felt an odd jab in his chest to know that Naruto was that infatuated. _It's just because I've discovered he's real, and I don't want to lose a true friend. _Sasuke looked at Naruto's puppy dog face and found himself unable to say no.

To make matters worse, Kakashi chimed in, not taking his nose out of his book, "It'd be a good way to get to know your new teammates."

"I'll call Ino and it can be a double date, no strings attatched!" Sakura wheedled coyly, and Naruto looked as if all his dreams were coming true, but by the way Naruto had talked about her actions before, Sasuke was sure that she was _not_ going to be the one with Naruto. Still, Naruto trained those begging eyes on Sasuke and he felt like melting under his gaze. _Naruto… Is good at that…_He thought, denying the fact that others much more experienced with puppy dog faces and begging eyes had not elicited such a response in him at all. Maybe the shock of seeing Naruto in reality was getting to him, he still felt a little odd, as if he'd open his eyes and the past years would be a dream and neither Dobe nor Naruto actually existed; but being an Uchiha, he pulled himself together and got his feelings back under control, ignoring the fact that this had not been the first time he let his feelings get out of control around Naruto. Stubbornly, he opened his mouth to say no when a memory returned and a devious thought crossed his mind, "Sure. I've got nothing better to do anyway. I might as well spend time with… You…" He fell back on the Uchiha arrogance for inspiration and ignored the quick glare Naruto sent him.

"Of course!" Sakura looked as if she would melt on the spot and Naruto gave him a look reminiscent of cornered animals. Sakura dashed off to find a phone while Kakashi drifted away through the crowd without so much as a "'Bye."

"Damn it," Naruto muttered, "I was hoping you'd say no…"

Sasuke smirked, "I know." He'd finally remembered. Naruto had told him that he was finally over the girl he liked and saw her as simply unreachable. The only reason he hadn't acted differently was because, in his words, "The damn bastards 'uhd ask what's wrong and get their noses firmly lodged in my business." Sasuke looked at his nails smugly, "What would you give me to get you out of this?"

"My firstborn son!" Naruto spat.

Sasuke pretended to consider it before dismissing the idea completely, "How about a _very_ big favor?"

"Fine." Naruto scowled.

Sasuke's smirk grew, "Now trust me and go along with what I do when she comes back, got it?"

"Fine." Naruto seemed to be stuck on the word, looking very cute as he stuck out his lip. _Not the time. _Sasuke reminded himself. Naruto scanned the crowd, "Here she comes."

Sasuke pushed Naruto to the ground and cried sarcastically, "Oh no, Naruto fainted!" Naruto _could_ have fainted from embarrassment right there, and Sakura chose this moment to make her entrace.

Noting Naruto's position on the ground, she poked him with her foot, "Oh, he'll be _fine_ Sasuke-kun, Ino couldn't come anyway so it'll just be us two, okay?" She fiddled with her hair flirtatiously and Sasuke felt a little stab of indignition that Naruto was subjected to this girl nearly 24/7. Sasuke dodged her grab for his arm and swiftly lifted Naruto, his arms supporting Naruto's knees and back.

"I have to take Naruto home now." He spoke through gritted teeth, although it came out sounding polite and disinterested, "Sorry." He stalked away rather angrily, having expected her to actually _care_ about her teammate.


	3. Burns

**So, like I said in my first story, "One," every story not already dedicated will be dedicated to the first _reviewer_. So "A Meeting of Minds" is dedicated to Tinker16. Thanks for the reviews and favorites!**

**Some sasunaru thoughts (finally) in this chapter.**

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"Sorry." Sasuke stated stoically before disappearing into the crowd. Sakura stood in shock a moment before-

"_HE_ LEFT _ME_ FOR _**NARUTO**__!"_

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Naruto tried not to enjoy being in the black-haired ninja's arms. Really, he did. In fact, he tried as hard as is humanly possible to be annoyed. Nothing, though, could stop the rising sense of contentment and elation in him now. Even when out of sight of Sakura, he found himself reluctant to leave the arms he was currently laying in. When he squirmed half-heartedly to get down, the grip on him tightened, and Naruto gave in, happy as a clam to remain close to his best friend. Even if he had doubted the boy's existence. Naruto frowned at the thought. _Why would we bang into each other now? Why did we even have the dreams in the first place? When I hadn't met him in real life, I could write him off as a very real figure of my imagination because I wanted- needed- a friend so much._ He shook his head violently- this is why he avoided deep thought- too many disturbing aspects of the situations he was in rose to the surface. Another thought occurred to make him frown. _We may know everything about the other, but two things were always off-limits, name… and address._ "Where are you taking me?" He asked hesitantly, not normally this unwilling to break the silence.

Te- Sasuke seemed to decide on the spot. "Mnn… My house…"

Naruto remained silent (I know!) a second more before exclaiming, "I can help with the blood stains!"

Sasuke nearly dropped him and Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck quickly. "That didn't actually come to mind, but I suppose it will do."

Naruto noticed the strain in the young Uchiha's voice and looked up at the tense teen, "I can't cook."

Sasuke very nearly dropped him again, his mind still on the blood. "What?"

"I can't cook, and it's time for lunch, so you cook, and I'll clean!" Naruto beamed at this "subtle" way to keep Sasuke from confronting the stains, and Sasuke mentally sighed, _How could someone so dumb see right through me?_ They continued on in silence until they were within sight of the Uchiha Manor.

Naruto's eyes bugged out of his head, "I know you said 'manor' but that is HUGE!" Naruto looked up at Sasuke with awe and Sasuke braced himself for the "loan me…" questions. "How did you keep it all clean?" Naruto asked, astounded by the very thought. Sasuke felt laughter bubble up and for once, let it out. Soon he was back under control and he just shook his head in answer to Naruto's questioning look, knowing the blonde would take affront if he explained. The small smile playing on his lips died off again when he looked up at the Manor, and the Uchiha couldn't help but flinch, remembering the other time he had walked into the Manor, full of morbid hope that his parents were only injured, not dead like the other Uchihas that normally lived in this area. Sasuke set Naruto on his feet and reached for the doorknob. His hand froze. Funny that it hit him now and not the first time back in the Manor. Suddenly he registered the hand on his. He followed the tan appendage with his eyes to its blue-eyed owner. He saw a semi-quiet (nothing about Naruto could stay quiet for long) understanding in the sky blue orbs. Naruto nodded as if affirming something, and they opened the door together. Naruto scowled fiercely at the bloodstain clearly visible from the door and took his hand off the brunette's. Sasuke felt a slight twinge of regret and the urge to snatch back the shorter boy's hand but attributed it to losing the comfort his best _friend_ provided.

Naruto continued to scowl at the stain, arms crossed and oblivious. "Where're your cleaning supplies?" Sasuke thanked whatever god had reminded him to stock up on those and gestured at a red door. Naruto attacked the blood with a fervor- _Naruto, defeater of stains and all things unclean, Household Avenger!_ –and Sasuke almost smiled before heading into the kitchen, which, luckily, had remained unbloodied.

Sasuke paused in his gathering of cooking materials he had brought from his last apartment, "Hey, Naruto?"

Naruto didn't look up from his scrubbing in the next room, "Yeah?"

"What's your last name?"

Naruto stopped cleaning, and Sasuke froze in the tension-filled silence. "Uzumaki."

Sasuke nodded, before realizing Naruto could not see him. _He's rubbing off on me._ "Mine is Uchiha."

"Yeah, I figured, since this is the _Uchiha_ Manor." The voice drifted from the front room, laden with sarcasm.

Sasuke laughed, "I wondered if you'd catch that." He smiled at the distinct screech of dismay from the next room and continued his work.

-----

"Sasuke-kuuuun!" A knock on the door and a familiar voice jolted Naruto and Sasuke out of their single-minded working. Sasuke, though, was in the middle of a delicate process in the kitchen.

"Can you get it, Do- Naruto?" He called.

"Whatever, Teme." Naruto threw down his weapons of choice against the stains and grime. "What?" Opening the door, a pink and red blob threw itself at him, and then suddenly backed up.

"_You're_ not Sasuke." Sakura stated, and Naruto became acutely aware that he had taken his shirt off in his war against dried and encrusted blood as Sakura's confused eyes flicked to his chest before returning to his face.

"Give the girl a prize!" Sasuke called from the kitchen, more than a bit irritated since this meant the girl would probably be all over him, ruining his cooking.

"May I please come in?" Sakura asked in the tone one would use with a misbehaving child as Naruto realized he hadn't moved from the doorway.

Sasuke called out, "DOBE!" in a surprised and irritated tone of voice. Naruto frowned and entered the kitchen, finally allowing Sakura into the Manor. She spotted the cleaning supplies and the blood, and thought, _Did they fight?_

"Did you do this, Dobe?" Sasuke asked, on the brink of exploding at the blonde ninja. Naruto scratched his head and looked at the fish flopping in the sink. Plural.

"No…" Suddenly, in the way lightening strikes, Naruto used his odd logic and turned on the faucet. Water with silt, bits of seaweed, and pebbles came out. "I think your plumbing needs to be fixed."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the pointing out of what was already blatantly obvious. "Is this a prank you set up? I haven't forgotten the last time…" Naruto smothered a laugh and neither noticed Sakura join them in the kitchen.

"You deserved it, besides," Naruto batted his eyelashes at the stony faced Uchiha and blew him a kiss, "You can't say you didn't enjoy it!" Sasuke whacked Naruto on the head. Naruto had once decided to ambush Sasuke when he entered the dream- he had discovered that his Jutsus still worked in the dream-state. He had used the Sexy No Jutsu to no effect -except that Sasuke had growled in anger and glared impressively- until he changed back, still draped all over Sasuke with his legs around his waist. They had found out you could also get a nosebleed in the dream place, and Naruto had teased Sasuke unendingly about his "late response" to the Sexy No Jutsu, which Sasuke had endured lest Naruto grasp the real reason.

"Yes, I can!" Sasuke felt himself letting his emotions take hold and attempted to clamp down on them. "God, Dobe, not all pranks make the subject happy, too!" Whoops.

"Then what was the nosebleed about, hmmm?" Naruto wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Sasuke fought the urge to laugh- and lost.

Naruto grinned, "See? Pranks make everyone happy! Except, you know, when they _really _don't…" He winced, but the grin stayed prominent on his face.

"Um… Hi, Sasuke-kun…" Sakura shifted awkwardly, her hands clasped behind her back.

Sasuke's laughter abruptly stopped, like a guillotine in its suddenness. His face regained its resemblance to a brick wall. "Hello, Sakura-san." Sakura mentally flinched from his use of the honorific. Naruto waved awkwardly at the pink haired ninja and laughed nervously. _Some ninja I am, didn't even notice my team mate coming up behind me…_

"So um… Whatcha doin' Sasuke-kun?" Sakura zeroed in on Sasuke and Naruto felt a twinge of irritation. _Because it'd be _so_ hard to say, "Hi, Naruto" or to let Sasuke and me keep talking. _He left the room scowling and attacked the stains a bit more aggressively than before.

Sasuke resumed his precise measurements when Naruto left. "Cooking."

Sakura waited for an elaboration that would never come and took matters into her own hands, "Whatcha cookin'?"

"A soufflé."

"Oh! So what kind of soufflé?"

Sasuke mixed something a bit before replying. "Cheese." Sakura shifted her weight uncomfortably. Suddenly her mind came to rest on the bloodstains. _They seem to be pretty competitive, and Naruto _never_ cleans unless someone has something on him…_ The green-eyed girl almost gasped, how could she not have seen it before? _They must be rivals! And if _Naruto_ is after me, then _Sasuke_ should be jealous and go after me, too! Especially if I treat Naruto nicely! _Sasuke yelped simultaneously with a crash and Sakura looked at him in surprise before Naruto burst in through the doorway from the other room. Sasuke put his hand under the sandy water flowing from the faucet, and Sakura glanced at the pot on the stove. Yep- there was a pair of abandoned oven mitts lying there.

"What happened?" Naruto asked, already at Sasuke's side, "I heard your yelp."

Sasuke glared at him, "Uchihas do _not_ yelp, Dobe."

Naruto shrugged, "I heard your manly cry of pain then, Teme."

Sasuke scowled and took his hand out from under the faucet, "I burned myself because the oven mitt slipped."

Sakura ran over to examine the burn while Naruto turned off the flame under the pot and muttered, "Cooking one, Sasuke zero."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the comment and yanked his hand out of Sakura's grip, "Your lack of skills is contagious."

Naruto gestured for Sasuke's hand and Sakura bristled when Sasuke gave it and Naruto looked it over. "Cooking is a skill?" Sasuke glared at the blonde who was currently turning Sasuke's hand over carefully. "It's not even first degree so you won't have any blisters marring your girly skin. It'll just hurt." Sasuke winced when he remembered exactly how Naruto knew so much about burns. He hadn't been able to contain his rage when he had found out about the villagers' treatment of Naruto and his inability to help seemed like it slapped him across the face. _Now I can stop them._ He shook himself out of his thoughts and focused on reality. Naruto was still absent-mindedly holding Sasuke's hand as he argued with Sakura that it wasn't that he didn't trust her judgment; she just hadn't shared what she thought about the burn. Something seemed to occur to Sakura, because she suddenly paused and smiled sweetly.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kuuun, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that…" She twirled a strand of hair around one finger and Naruto mentally rolled his eyes, _There was a time that would've made me feel like melting on the spot._

"It's alright, Sakura-chan!" He forced excitement into his voice, Sakura was apologizing! _Yay…_ "You don't have to apologize since you're almost always right!" Naruto became aware that he still held Sasuke's hand when Sasuke returned his grip tightly. He glanced at Sasuke and nearly gasped at the dark look on his face.

_How _dare_ she suddenly decide to be nice to _my_ dobe just to mess with him!_ Sasuke blinked after the thought registered. _…_My_ dobe?_

Naruto, however, was completely unaware of his best friend's epiphany and continued, expecting the usual "no," "So, Sakura-chan, wanna go grab lunch sometime?" He almost winced as the grip on his hand tightened, but that would probably raise Sakura's suspicions- as it was raising his own questions he wanted to ask the somber Uchiha.

"Sure!" Sakura smiled and Naruto gaped. "Why don't you bring Sasuke along? It'd be a good way for us all to start getting to know each other! It can be tomorrow at noon- we can go to Ichiraku's Ramen!"

Naruto smiled weakly, as his hand was now in incredible pain, "Of course! Why don't you go call Ino and invite her too…?"

When Sakura smiled slyly and left the room, Naruto whirled on Sasuke, "What is _wrong_ with you? If I didn't know better, I'd say you're jealous! But what would you be jealous of? That Sakura's paying attention to me? Take her if you want her- I doubt she'd say no! You know I don't care about her at all-" The grip on his hand suddenly lessened, but still remained firm.

"I don't care if _she_ likes _you_." Sasuke simultaneously hoped for Naruto to miss and catch the slip he had made.

"Then what do you-" Comprehension was far from dawning on his face, but Sakura walked into the room, and all conversation stopped. She stared at them before they realized what was strange. Sasuke and Naruto's hands were intertwined, and Sasuke's other hand was on his forehead to ward off the coming headache. Naruto's was on his hip. Sasuke's eyes lingered on his hip before going up and down the rest of his body, freezing when he hit the eyes. Naruto was looking at him confusedly, Sakura forgotten for a moment. Sasuke sighed (out loud, which made Sakura jump uncomfortably) and gave a Naruto a look that he hoped said, _I'll tell you later._ Naruto seemed to get the message, because he nodded as he disentangled their hands and stepped back to look at Sakura.

"Stupid Uchiha thinks he's tanner than me. ME!" Naruto exclaimed, as if that had been what they were talking about.

Sasuke rose an eyebrow, "I said nothing of the sort. I said I was more of a man than you were, fussing over a burn."

"I tried to show him, even my hand is more tanned than his. You know that the tanner you are, the more of a man you are. Don't you think I'm tanner, Sakura-chan?" He turned to her and she seemed to believe the whole thing was just Naruto being stupid.

"Yes Naruto, you are tanner." Naruto pretended to preen and Sasuke rolled his eyes. Sakura smiled, "Ino said she'll come. It can be that double date! I'll go with Naruto, and Sasuke can go with Ino!" She grinned and Naruto attempted to smile, but the dark, _evil_ "I-will-kill-you-and-your-family" aura Sasuke was giving off made it hard.

"I'm uh, gonna go clean now."


	4. He doesn't hate me

**Dedicated to Tinker16. Sasunaru. Rather AU. Not really very plotty other than the whole narusasu sasunaru dream-world-together thing.**

* * *

Naruto sank down against the inside of his apartment door and sighed. _I was talking with _Teme_ a few moments ago..._ Naruto had almost finished cleaning but Te- Sasuke had insisted he sleep. Naruto thought back and blushed at the concern Sasuke had seemed to have for his health. _I can't believe he's _real_... _Suddenly, a chilling thought occurred to him. _If he's _real_ then he knows literally _everything_ about me!_ He knew it was useless to panic now- after all, Sasuke-teme had never shunned him before. _But that was before he figured out _I_ was real... What if he _does_ start being cruel to me? Sakura obviously is trying to get to him through me- even _I'm_ not _that_ dumb. What if she gets tired of that tactic and tries to unite the two of them with a common enemy, me? I don't think..._ Naruto bit his lip and closed his eyes at the direction his thoughts were going- but was helpless to stop them. _I don't think I could live if someone- any one- who knew that much about me turned on me... But if Tem- Sasuke-teme suddenly started hating me! And what if he found out I liked him more than even a best friend should?! Who would want a monster like me in... _that_ way?! _Tears bloomed at the edges of Naruto's eyes as his thoughts took on a hysterical edge. He slapped his cheeks for allowing such weakness through. _I just won't let him find out! Ever! Then we should be fine, right?_ The teen curled up in front of the door, silencing his sobs with the ease of practice.

* * *

Sasuke groaned and hit his head on the wall near his front door. Sakura had left shortly after Naruto- because Sasuke had literally shoved her out the door. _It is hard to believe that I actually was just with Dobe... That there really is someone who knows _everything_ about me. _He shivered. The thought brought both fear and pleasure. Suddenly he remembered something else that had prompted the same feelings and groaned again. _Scratch that, he knows everything except that I find him and his personality supremely attractive. _Another passing thought made him freeze. _What if... Now that he knows who I am... He spreads it all around? Everything? He could ruin my reputation and have people after me all hours of the day!_ Unlike most people, instead of wanting to trust the Dobe and failing, he found himself in the opposite situation. _I can not trust that irresponsible imbecile!_ '-Who just so happened to see all your moments of weakness and neither reject nor pity you,' whispered a voice rather like his conscience- though he wasn't sure, he didn't hear it often. _Why, WHY, _**WHY**_ do I trust him? Why wouldn't he just tell everyone everything he knows about me? _He stopped the pacing he hadn't known he'd started and grimaced. _Because none of the cowards in this town would believe him. Because I'm his only friend. Because no one else in the town looks at him with anything other than disgust, fear, hate, or at the least, dislike. Because he's loyal and honest to a fault. Because he's him. _Sasuke sank to the floor. _When did _this_ happen? When did he become so close, so much a part of my life? I didn't even know he truly existed until today! _An image of sparkling blue eyes and shining golden hair swam up behind his eyes and he shook his head violently. _That's IT! I am NOT going through any more of this! I will think of it only when it becomes relevant! _He walked through the hallways to the room he had slept in the night before and took off his shirt, not bothering with changing into pajamas, and fell asleep in his jeans.

* * *

In a small cafe, Sakura grinned deviously at her friend, Ino. Ino was a platinum blonde with icy blue eyes and skin almost as pale as her long, pony-tailed hair.

"What? Why do you keep doing that?" Ino growled, at her wit's end with her best friend and rival's odd antics. "WHAT is SO amusing that you must GRIN like that EVERY FIVE MINUTES?!"

"I know a GREAT way to get to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura smiled dreamily and gazed up at the blue, blue sky, with the fluffy white clouds and perfect golden sun...........

Ino stood up with her hands gripping the table. "THAT _AGAIN_?! I HAVE TO SEE THIS GUY FOR MYSELF! WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH A GUY YOU'VE MET **_TWICE_**?!"

"He's so handsome and dark and troubled and angsty and almost as pretty as a girl with porcelain skin and long graceful fingers and shiny black hair with matching colored eyes that yiou could just drown in for hours and hours and hours-"

Ino accented each syllable by pounding the table, "ENOUGH!" She glared over at Sakura, who snapped out of her daze with a look of surprise, "You're here with ME your BEST FRIEND and all you can think about is HIM! Did you ever think that MAYBE I asked you here because I actually wanted to TALK with you about something?! Some friend you are!" Ino stomped off, and Sakura shook herself out of her surprise and jumped to her feet.

"Ino, wait!"

* * *

The nothingness surrounded Sasuke and he looked around the white world. When he found Naruto, the very act of noticing where he was forced them together due to the varying ignorance of the laws of physics that the empty dream world seemed to have. Naruto was curled up in a ball, silently sobbing, which Sasuke could tell from the shaking of his shoulders.

Sasuke said hesitantly, "Naruto?"

Naruto's head snapped up, and when he noticed his surroundings, he seemed to faintly whimper, "I fell _asleep!" _He looked towards Sasuke, whimpered and then ducked his head back into his knees, the shaking of his shoulders seemed to _increase _if anything. Sasuke didn't say anything, just sat down and took the blonde into his arms as he had many times before, and as the blonde had done just as many times for him. Naruto at first tensed, and tried to back off, but Sasuke proved once again that height and weight trumped willpower any day and merely tightened his grip. Naruto seemed to give in, and wrapped his arms around the Uchiha, weeping as quietly as he always had, from the first day they met. Only the occasional snuffle could be heard and Sasuke rubbed soothing circles on the smaller boy's back. When the shaking of Naruto's shoulders lessened, and finally ceased, he didn't raise his face from Sasuke's chest nor decrease the tightness of his grip. Sasuke kept his arms just as tight to keep Naruto from panicking or having a fit. Naruto had always seemed much less mentally stable than most people, or Sasuke himself. He had a tendency to overreact to events that may or may not happen in the future as if they _had_ happened, yet did not actually change the way he acted towards the people involved in the imaginary situation. Sasuke chalked it up to the villagers' treatment of him and tried to leave it at that, offering help only when needed.

"Did something happen? Or was it a may-or-may-not?" Sasuke asked softly, already falling into the reassuring and odd trusting state that seemed to be exuded from the surrounding whiteness.

"May-or-" Naruto sniffed, his words muffled against Sasuke's shirt. "-may-not."

Sasuke paused, waiting to see if Naruto continued on his own or if he'd have to ask. Naruto sighed in melancholy. Sasuke sighed inwardly. "What was it about?"

Naruto's entire body tensed, and he tried once more to escape the cage-like arms around him. Sasuke didn't let go and Naruto collapsed against him with a sigh of defeat. "I... I don't want to talk about it."

"Did it involve a person, or just an event?"

"...Person..." Sasuke almost flinched when he felt Naruto's lips move against his chest but kept himself in check.

"Will you at least tell me who it was?" _I can't believe anyone could have that kind of effect on him._ Sasuke almost felt jealousy rise before stomping on it viciously with the mental image of Naruto's pain.

Naruto cringed. "I-" He paused, as if indecisive, "...You..."

Sasuke didn't, couldn't speak. _He... felt _that_ horrible about an _imaginary _situation with _me_?! _"Whatever it was 'I' did, it wasn't really me, remember, it was just an imaginary event, it didn't happen..." As Sasuke continued reassuring Naruto of the event's falsity, his mind drifted back in time. _I can't remember how many times I've said these words. "It's alright, it wasn't real, it didn't happen." So on and so forth. He rarely told me what it was about, could it be possible they were about... me? That maybe he cares about me as much as I do him? That- _He cut off that line of thinking before he did anything to jeapordize the friendship.

Naruto's own thoughts, however, did not require the killing of hope that Sasuke believed his own did. _It didn't happen, it won't happen, please don't let it happen! I can't lose him! I can't see his face, filled with fear, hate, disgust, I can't! As long as he doesn't hate me, doesn't fear me, isn't disgusted by me, anything anything anything! _Naruto felt the tears returning and choked back a sob. _He knows everything already! He knows my thoughts my feelings my home my name me, why would he decide to hate me now? Why why why why? _Hyperventilation probably wouldn't help steady him, but it wasn't going to go away because of that either. _He's still here. He may not know how much I feel for him, but he's still here, even knowing my name, my stupid stupid STUPID name that makes EVERYONE leave, walk away, run away, never come back! _Sasuke began running his hand through Naruto's hair and Naruto took a deep, raggedy breath. _He's still here, he's right here, he's still my friend, he didn't leave, he knows my name, he didn't leave, he's still here, he doesn't hate me. _He doesn't hate me.


	5. Ino, Ino, Ino

**It's been so loooong! D: RL got in the way. Stupid reality. XD**

**I've also been engulfed by homework now that school has started up. Luckily it's the weekend. so, :D .**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke, and the relationship between Sakura and... Someone. *shifty eyes***

**Dedicated to Tinker16, whose name is so confounding, I cannot decide if the "Tinker" part is because they enjoy engineering, or a certain green-dress-wearing pixie. :) Personally, I'd choose Tinker Bell. :D**

**Er.... Don't hurt me for the shortness. I will be posting chappie 6 as well, today.**

Naruto groaned as he woke up, wincing as his sore muscles protested- yup, it's definately _not_ a good idea to fall asleep sobbing on the floor. _Thanks, body, really needed to know just how much you disagreed with this action._ Naruto stretched, both feeling and hearing a few joints pop. He glanced at the clock on the wall. _It's two PM..._ His head whipped towards the clock. _TWO PM?! I only have an _hour_ to get to the meeting point!!!_

He jumped up and began his morning rituals of clothing-selecting and ramen-scarfing much swifter than was physically healthy for anyone.

(o0o0o0o0o0o)

Sasuke found himself in a similar situation after he was jolted out of dream world by an over-eager knock on his door. He had ignored it for around ten minutes by getting ready to go see D- Naruto and the rest of his team, but now that everything was done, he begrudgingly opened the door- only to be punched in the face.

He wiped the blood from his lip, "What-"

"You infatuated my best friend, you bastard!" Another fist flew at him, but this time, prepared by the previous onslaught, he caught it.

"_What_ are you talking about?" For a fleeting moment he imagined her to be talking about Naruto- before reality set in.

The icy blonde- _Nothing like Naruto_, his mind added (un)helpfully- glared at him falteringly, "You- you seduced Sakura! Haruno Sakura...?"

Sasuke blinked, "No."

Ino stepped back in shock, "You didn't? Did you even maybe flirt with her?"

Sasuke grunted in affirmation and she began bowing so quickly Sasuke had to back up to avoid being decapitated by her wildly flailing ponytail.

"Gomen nasai!" **(1)** She exclaimed.

"Hn."

She continued to apologize, rambling on and on until Sasuke just tuned her out. Eventually, he came to contemplating the possible repercussions of slamming the door in her sorry (pun intended) face when a certain cheerfully orange-garbed ninja bounded over.

"Oi. What's up with Ino? Do you two know each other?" Naruto grinned, "Another fangirl?"

Ino closed the flood gates on her regret and remorse long enough to be confused. "Uzumaki?"

Naruto's hand twitched but his smile did not falter, "That's my name don't wear it out. Hey, Sasuke-teme."

Sasuke's lips twitched upwards. **(2)** "Hey Dobe."

Ino frowned at the easy exchange of insults.

"Aren't you coming to the team meeting? It's in half an hour, you know..." Naruto trailed off and Sasuke glanced at the clock just inside the door, swearing under his breath. _That freaky girl took up twenty minutes without me even realizing! It's bad enough I woke up at _two_! _Sasuke leveled a quick glare at the kunoichi, leaving her bewildered as he ran into the house, chugged a glass of orange juice and ran off with Naruto.

Ino blinked at the still-swinging door. _What the hell?_

* * *

**1. Formal way of saying I'm sorry. AKA I'M SO SO SO SORRY!**

**2. It _can't_ be a smile! It just _CAN'T!_ XD**


	6. Sakura Has A Nightmare

**Disclaimer: All I own is in my pocket. *proudly displays three pennies, piece of paper and lint***

**DEDICATED to: Tinks of the dieciseis! (Tinker16)**

**This is... I think late... I lose track of time often...**

"When is Kakashi-sensei going to get here? He's already half an hour _late..." _Naruto complained half-heartedly.

Sasuke grunted in agreement and Sakura fawned over... Naruto....

"What a sense of time! I bet you didn't even have to check a watch!" Sakura exclaimed, clapping her hands together and glancing "furtively" at Sasuke.

Naruto chuckled nervously and backed away. Sakura predatorily leaned forward to throw her arms around- empty space. She scowled at the blonde, who was proving his absolute manliness, courage, and utter bravery by hiding behind an "Uchiha Shield."

"She's crazy! Save me!" Naruto whispered fearfully.

Sasuke laughed darkly and a shiver went down Naruto's spine. "But what would be the _point_ of that?"

"You're not still mad about that, are you?" Naruto asked feebly. On the way there, Naruto had been practicing his aim with kunai. Let's just say he was still a little... Off....

Sasuke glared at the living law of inertia and Naruto knew he was in for it. Sasuke hooked a thumb over his shoulder at Sakura. "You've got about ten seconds before she realizes I'm not protecting you."

Sasuke didn't know Naruto could move that fast without ramen involved.

-BLAHBLAHBLAH-

Kakashi arrived at the bridge a little earlier than he planned- and dropped his little orange book in surprise.

Naruto was standing over his bound and gagged teammate and apologizing profusely as he checked her bindings. "Sakura-chan, I just couldn't let you do... _That_ to me... Ever... It's for your own good, you'll see. Kakashi-sensei will bring you to a psychiatrist and then you'll be fine..." Sakura's killing intent spiked and she struggled against the ropes. Sasuke smirked momentarily from his position in the tree above Sakura and Naruto seemed to remember he was there. "Teme-_chan_," Sasuke winced and Kakashi was befuddled at the strange mixture of insult and endearment, "Sakura-chan has been neutralized. You can come down." Sakura's muffled growl had Sasuke jumping up one branch higher.

"Hn." He replied, sitting down and obviously not intending to move from that spot.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "You're her hero, Teme, even pretending to like her and then tripping her into my trap wouldn't be enough to destroy _that_. Besides, _I'll_ protect you, since you so kindly got over my prank on you around when I brought up the incident when we were seven..." Sasuke snarled from the branches of the trees.

Kakashi decided now was a good time to make his prescence known and cleared his throat loudly. Naruto jumped in surprise and Sasuke muffled a snigger. "Naruto..."

"Yeah?"

Kakashi almost fell at the look of innocent curiousity on Naruto's face- unaware of the inner maniacal laughter. "Can you please tell me why Sakura is tied up?"

"You see, it's like this..." Naruto explained a long and convoluted theory about a Henge-wearing Kage Bunshin Summon of an Oto-nin inflitrating the team by knocking out Sakura using a complicated and draining jutsu that didn't work before knocking her out with a rock to the forehead (which he believed to be the best place as there was less chance of missing- the vein in said-billboard pulsed ominously) and attempting to make them believe it was Sakura.

Kakashi looked disbelieving and vaguely disturbed. _Years of teaching him can't take off the edge of "Essence of Naruto..."_ Sakura looked gleeful at the fact that Kakashi didn't believe the _(stupid)_ theory. "And what exactly made you think Sakura had been... 'replaced?'"

Naruto deadpanned, "She flirted with me."

Kakashi leapt back several feet. "THAT'S NOT SAKURA!" Naruto and Kakashi began ranting to each other about what to do and Sasuke decided to put an end to the nonsense.

Jumping down from the tree, he positioned a kunai so he could cut the ropes with one swing. "I know what to do!"

They turned their heads towards him and asked in unison, "What is it?"

"Let her loose and see if she beats you two up for being idiots." With a grin, Sasuke slashed the ropes with his kunai.

-BLAHBLAHBLAH-

Naruto cracked his back and winced.

"Still in pain, Dobe?" Sasuke asked without sympathy or amusement.

Naruto glared, "I just wanted to get the day off by freaking Kakashi-sensei out enough to take Sakura to the ANBU. But no, you had to go and get me beat up again. And smashing me over the head with that watermelon wasn't all that helpful either."

Sasuke shrugged slightly, "Not my fault you were too busy zoning out to realize we'd made it to the bandit camp."

They had been on one of the few C-rank missions they had to go on- seeing as they were now Chuunin, and had been for about three years each. Why are they with Kakashi, you may ask? Sarutobi, before he died, enacted a law that would have active Chuunin remain under the command of the Jounin sensei they originally had- due to rising Chuunin death rates through lack of experience. Unfortunately, that meant the one most dysfunctional team, that was also the only one missing a member, would remain intact until one by one, they became Jounin.

"Hello, Sasuke to Dobe, is anyone still at home in there?" Sasuke flicked Naruto's forehead protector and Naruto crinkled his nose at him.

"Are you insinuating something?"

"Learned the word 'insuinating' this morning from that dictionary you love so much?"

"Yes..."

"Leave the big words to the smart people, Dobe."

All of Konoha would cringe as a scream of righteous fury overlapped by evil laughter from a different source erupted from the outskirts of town.

Only minutes later, a panting Sasuke tackled Naruto to the ground and grinned, the tomoe in his crimson eyes spinning wildy. "I win."

Naruto sighed, "I can see that, Teme. Now get off."

Sasuke's grin widened, "Oh, so it annoys you to be pinned down now?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Yes, it annoys me. It has annoyed me since the day you _first_ tackled me, _years_ ago. And yet _every_ time, you ask the _same_ question, with the _same_ expression, and get the _exact same answer._ Do you have some memory problems, _Sasu-chan_?"

Sasuke growled at the nickname and rolled off the blonde, ignoring the twinge in his chest at letting the chance go- he caught himself. _There was no chance and you'll never _have_ a chance, so stop fucking hoping. _Sasuke stood and offered Naruto a hand up out of habit more than courtesy. _Now does that imply I win a lot, or that I just stand quicker and Naruto's a lazy bum?_

Naruto grasped the pale hand and pulled himself up, thanking the Uchiha absent-mindedly.

Sasuke glanced at the darkening sky and sighed internally. _I wish I could just stay with him, but that would be very very strange if I asked..._ "Dobe, it's getting dark."

Naruto blinked and scowled good-humouredly. "And what, Mr. I-can-point-out-the-obvious?"

Sasuke smirked, "Blonde little boys like yourself should be in bed at _this_ time of night."

Naruto stuck out his tongue before replying. "Oh yeah? Whose?"

The blush and slightly angry expression that flickered across Sasuke's face was not lost on Naruto- though its implications were. Sasuke deadpanned, "Whose do you _think_, Naruto?"

Naruto pretended to be shocked, "You can't possibly be- Sasuke! I never knew you felt that way about me!" Naruto felt a teeny bit of regret and longing worm into his mind but he ignored it.

Sasuke's mouth flopped open and Naruto couldn't hold back a giggle at the expression on his face, nor the slight dusting of pink across normally alabaster cheekbones. "You- That's- that's not what I meant and you know it! I would never-" _Tell you to do that, especially when you don't think of me in that way at _all_._

Naruto, unlike you wonderful readers, does not and did not have the ability to hear this Uchiha's thoughts, and took the words at face value, his smile slipping. "Oh." He forced a grin, "Just kidding, got to go, anyway. Sleep and all that. We've got a B-rank mission in two days, so... Got to be rested!" He dashed off, missing Sasuke's contemplation of the disappointed look Naruto seemed to have tried to hide.

-BLAHBLAHBLAH-

Sakura jolted out of a sound sleep screaming. She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead (fivehead) and shakily turned to place her feet flat on the floor. _That's impossible, it could never happen, calm down._ She slowly began to forget her dream, and returned to sleep with the vague sense of an impeding event that could devastate the Uchiha Sasuke fan club forever.

-BLAHBLAHBLAH-


	7. Naruto's Late Night Madness

**Dedicated to Tink a tinktink the 16th. You know who I'm talkin about. ;) XD**

**Disclaimer: She finally relented and the evil lawyers drew back, sliding their various weapons out of her skin. The words tore her heart just as a sword might, however, as she cried, "I do not own Naruto!"**

**SPOILER! **

** Er, this is a total teaser chappie, and so ppl don't kill me, I'ma say now, that Naruto ain't gonna figure it out.**

**SPOILER OVER!**

"-me... Teme. SASUKE!" Sasuke sat straight up at the loud noise- and smashed his head into the intruder's. "Ow... Dammit, Sasuke, for a ninja you sleep heavy!" Naruto groaned from his perch on Sasuke's stomach.

"Wha?" Not the most intelligent of responses, but it's not everyday Sasuke woke up to his attractive best friend straddling his abdomen.

"Man, you _really_ weren't kidding when you would tell me you're not a morning person. I swear, if I were an enemy nin, you'd be deader than dead right now, I mean, seriously-"

"Ow." Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose and placed a hand over Naruto's mouth. He growled as he realized the clock read 4 AM. "No more chatter. Too early." Naruto scowled under Sasuke's hand but nodded reluctantly.

"So," Naruto continued in a stage whisper, "How's life going for you?"

Sasuke moaned and covered his face with a pillow.

"That bad, huh?"

Sasuke threw the pillow at Naruto- who caught it- and glared at the loud and sunshiny blonde. _Sunlight is the natural enemy of vampires!_ His mind supplied randomly, a true testament to his sleepiness. "Dobe, m'tired, what has you so nervous that you're freaking blurting out'yer ev'ry thought?"

Naruto froze, "Nothing, I'm not nervous, just had a lot of sugar this morn-midnight in my breakfast ramen, you see? Just natural hyperness..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Whatever." Grabbing Naruto's shoulders, he pulled the blonde down and to the side quickly so Naruto was lying next to him on the bed and threw part of the blanket over him. "Go to sleep so's'quiet so I can sleep. If you're up this early you mus'not have-" Sasuke yawned, "-slept at all..." He absent-mindedly let his arm fall over Naruto's waist.

A few minutes of silence followed this as Naruto's brain caught up with his ears. "...Sasuke?"

"Mnnnnn.....?"

"Nevermind..."

"Mn." Sasuke sleepily pulled Naruto closer, "G't'sleep."

-BLAHBLAHBLAH-

Sasuke saw only yellow. There was nothing else but yellow. Probably because he was looking at Naruto's mop of hair while he pondered how to make it seem as if he _hadn't_ just been _cuddling_ with his best friend as they both slept after he _pulled_ Naruto into his bed. To be fair, Naruto had been the one who showed up in the middle of the night and sat on him, but still... _This is going to be one of those traumatically embarrassing situations that you recall at the age of fifty when your psychiatrist is trying to figure out what's wrong with you....._ During the night Naruto's shoes and jacket had made it off his body and onto the floor, and Sasuke did _not_ want to know how that had happened while they were _asleep. Naruto _did_ mention he has times when people think he's awake and he's actually sleepwalking... Could he have taken them off in a dream and mimicked the motions in real life?_ They hadn't gone to the dream world they shared, so that was a possible situation. _But it still looks... Odd..._ He felt his right hand tingle with pins and needles- Sasuke's arms were around Naruto's waist, so his right arm was partially held in place by Naruto while his left arm was free to move. _Though I don't really want to move them..._ Sasuke reached up with his free hand and traced the edge of Naruto's jaw to his chin before realizing exactly what he was doing and swiftly returning his hand to its previous spot on Naruto's back. _Is that _really_ any better?! At _all_?! _

Naruto, however, was slightly _more_ confused than poor Sasuke. He was, in fact, awake, and fighting the urge to open his eyes and demand to know why Sasuke was acting this way. Naruto did remember Sasuke's sleep-influenced actions that morning/night, but he could write _them_ off as drowsiness making Sasuke more affectionate. Stroking his jaw? Not so much. _But before all this, he was saying that- I'm so confused. First he seems like we're just friends, then it seems like he might like me, then we're just friends, then he's jealous, then we're just best friends again, and now he might like me?! What's going on?!_ Naruto kept his breathing deep and his eyes lightly shut. Out of the blue he heard Sasuke mutter, "_Now_ how am I supposed to get up? I don't have the motivation _or_ the energy!"

Sasuke cringed as he heard the words come out of his mouth. _Thank the gods Naruto sleeps like the dead. I'm normally the light sleeper, not him. Although last night it apparently took a while to wake me up..._ Sasuke wondered briefly if they were switching those roles before lightly shaking himself out of that train of thought. _Should I wake him up? Then how do I explain all this? 'I was sleepy and when I'm sleepy my inhibitions falter?' Dobe probably doesn't know the word inhibitions... Unless he looked it up in his dictionary recently.... And if he did, that would be bad... I think I'll just act casual and ignore any protests that it's, 'weird.' After all, neither of us have enough friends to judge how they should act._

"Er..." Naruto started hesitantly and Sasuke's eyes instantly snapped to his- _How long has he been awake?!_ "What time is it?" _Oh gods, Naruto, don't fucking scare me like that!_

Sasuke craned his neck slightly to see over Naruto's shoulder and let his head fall back to his pillow. "It's 8:15. It's been about four hours since you came here." _That's it, just stay calm. It seems like he just woke up..._

"So we've got five hours until training- well, seven if Kakashi is on time in his head," Naruto added, just to be truthful. He tilted his head slightly into the pillow, "So was there something on my face?"

"What?" _Oh no, this is bad bad bad._

"When you touched my jaw, was there something on my face?" Naruto elaborated.

"Ah- yes. There was- some fuzz and I was getting it off." Sasuke's cool tone lacked believability due to the breaks in rhythm. _Shit shit shit shit._

Naruto eyed him speculatively before running his finger along Sasuke's jawline in one stroke, "There was fuzz. Now it's gone."

Sasuke nodded, speechless for the moment, but determined to force his way through it, "Thanks." _Is he calling my bluff?_

Naruto gave a small nod in return and reached up once more, trailing his fingers across Sasuke's cheek, "Look at that, you're just covered in fuzz!" _He's calling my bluff. Completely and totally._

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "My blankets are fuzzy, okay? Just leave it, I can get it off in the shower."

Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously and held up the brand new cloth blanket, "Fuzzy?"

Sasuke closed his eyes firmly, "I'm going back to sleep."

"Hey!" Naruto crinkled his nose as Sasuke's breathing began to even out. "...Teme...."


	8. Kiba

**Dedicated to Tinker16. Thanks goes out to all reviewers, readers, and Messica for sharing my love of yaoi.**

**Disclaimer: Do I need to repeat myself? I don't own Naruto.**

Naruto growled under his breath, "I _know_ you can't fall asleep that quickly, Sasuke-teme." Sasuke responded with a light snore. _This is _not_ fair! If he likes me, then he should _tell _me!_ '_Oh yeah, like you told him?'_ Naruto ignored his own snarky response. _I'll figure it out _myself_, then!_ Naruto sat up, prying the arms around his waist off forcefully. _He's such a jerk, sometimes._ Naruto eyed the sleeping brunette warily before walking towards the kitchen calling, "I guess I'll go _coo-ook_!"

Sasuke jerked out of bed in fear as the words registered.

(OAOAOAOA)

Naruto sulkily slurped up his soggy cereal as Sasuke lectured him about touching _anything_ in the kitchen.

_I was just trying to get him up… And I'm not _that_ bad at cooking… _Naruto tuned out Sasuke's furious words. They were in a small room off the kitchen that contained a dark wooden table for four with only three chairs. The chairs and the walls were the same color- dirty white, but the walls had wooden molding along the center and around the room. It was the sturdiest room of the whole house and probably one of three that had stone walls. The rest of the rooms were created from various bamboo products and could probably be jumped _through._

"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME, DOBE?"

Naruto cringed, "Don't touch anything in the kitchen."

Sasuke glared imperiously, "That's right."

Naruto squashed some of his cereal mush against the side of the bowl, _Time to put my plan into action…_ "Sasuke? Can I ask you for advice?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Go ahead Dobe."

Naruto nodded, half to himself, "Well, you see, there's this guy I really like, but I don't know if he likes me, and he keeps sending me mixed messages. It's really starting to screw with my head, and I don't know what to do…" Naruto looked up through his lashes to surreptitiously watch Sasuke's expression.

Sasuke sat down heavily on the other side of the table. _He? Naruto's… Gay? But who could he like?_ Sasuke spotted the Dobe glancing at his face and fought the urge to whack his head into the table. _He's testing me about something- could it be me? Is he asking about me?_ Sasuke decided to phrase this carefully, "Well, I think that you should tell him, since he probably likes you as well, and is just unsure how you'd respond to that."

Even Naruto could pick _that_ up, he grinned, "You think so?" Naruto leaped from his chair and gave the brunette teen a hug; "I'll be sure to tell Kiba right away!" _Revenge!_

Sasuke tensed and awkwardly patted Naruto on the back, "O-oh. Kiba, huh?"

"Why, jealous?" Naruto smirked and pecked Sasuke on the lips, "Don't be. I lied."

Sasuke resembled a fish as his mouth opened and closed silently, but suddenly his brow furrowed in thought. _He was lying. About which part? The Kiba part, right? 'He _did_ just kiss you!'_A part of him reminded acidly, _So he- I- Oh to hell with it._

Naruto frowned nervously, "Oi, Sasuke, are you all-" Sasuke leaned in quickly, cutting off Naruto's sentence as their teeth clashed together briefly and he captured Naruto's lips. Sasuke breathed a mental sigh of relief as Naruto enthusiastically responded and pulled the dark-haired boy closer. _Thank god our situations weren't switched, or we'd still be sitting at the table waiting for Naruto to figure out what was going on!_ Sasuke stopped thinking as Naruto's fingers gripped the back of his head and held the shorter teen more tightly.


	9. ssiKKiss

**This is short, but I really can't write any more of this story right now, so I'm posting what I've got and moving on to SMH or TDDUP.**

**Disclaimer: Nope. It's not mine. Sasuke owns Naruto and vica versa.**

**Dedicated to Tinker16, of the Tinker Bell Fairies.**

"Aren't we meeting... Sakura?" Naruto panted slightly as Sasuke nipped and licked his way up Naruto's neck.

Sasuke paused and growled, sending vibrations through Naruto's skin. "For _lunch_. Let's not go."

Naruto shook his head, "We should still go." Sasuke returned his attentions to Naruto's mouth and their tongues briefly battled for dominance before Naruto pulled back with a smirk, "But there's a lot of time left until then..."

Sasuke grinned ferally and pulled their hips together, eliciting a moan from the blonde and the Uchiha's eyes dilated. Naruto decided he liked that look on Sasuke's face as the taller teen shoved him up against the wall. Sasuke slid a hand up Naruto's shirt and ran his fingers slowly over the skin, kissing the corner of Naruto's mouth. Naruto turned his head quickly and recaptured the brunette's lips, opening his mouth in invitation. Sasuke wasted no time in exploring the boy's mouth and Naruto entangled his fingers in Sasuke's mussed hair. _I could get used to _this_..._ Naruto smiled into the kiss.

(o0o0o0o0o0o)

"Damn it, I can't believe I forgot!" Naruto cried, pulling away from Sasuke's grip and ignoring the puppy-dog like look of dejection. "You look like a puppy." Well, somewhat ignored it. Sasuke crinkled his face in disgust at the reference and Naruto pulled his shirt back on.

Sasuke crossed his arms over his pale chest and raked his eyes up Naruto's form, "What's so much more important than making out with me?"

"Avoiding Baa-chan's wrath!" Naruto swallowed the mush left in his cereal bowl in one swig.

Sasuke cringed internally, "Ah. How'd you piss her off this time?" Naruto ran into Sasuke's bedroom before registering that Sasuke had spoken.

"I have no idea, I swear! She 'requested' to see me on this date about a month ago!" Naruto called as he looked under the bed for his jacket. "Now I have to go see her, Sakura, Kakashi, and then avoid the gaki!"

"Incidentally, what _are_ the real names of baa-chan and the gaki?"

Naruto paused in his search, "Tsunade and Konohamaru."

"THE SANNIN HOKAGE AND THE GRANDSON OF THE FIFTH?"

"Yup. Not very common names."

Sasuke sighed, "I expect you 'wow'-ed them into accepting you."

Naruto scowled as he hopped into the room on one foot, pulling on a shoe. "Konohamaru chases me around no matter _what_ I do!"

"And Tsunade-sama?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly as he let his foot drop (since his shoe was on), "I kind of battled her with an incomplete Rasengan and reminded her of both her late brother and boyfriend and-"

"When you were trying to convince the ero-sennin's friend to come back to your village? That was baa- Tsunade-sama?" Sasuke asked, hiding the irritation he felt at being interrupted- he had been waiting for this for _years_!

"Yeah, forgot I told you that story. Ireallygottagosobye-" Sasuke grabbed the blonde and pulled him close into a fierce kiss before shoving him out the door.

"Don't be late to your meeting!" He called as Naruto dazedly waved and stumbled away.

(o0o0o0o0o0o)


	10. Break Down

**Disclaiming the Joy: Do not... Own Naruto.... Just pull me across some rusty nails, too, why don'tcha?**

**Dedicated to... Er......**

**I kid, Dedicated to Tinker16, as per usual.**

**So... I just updated all my DMHP stories... You should check them out.... Not in that way.... GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER! ^laughs hysterically^ Sorry.**

"So Naruto, what's got _you_ looking so frazzled?" Tsunade inquired, steepling her fingers and fixing Naruto with her most serious expression as she inwardly laughed maniacally at Naruto's squirming.

"Er I was- " Naruto blushed, "I was hanging out with an old friend."

"Do you know why I requested you here on this date, at this time?" Tsunade asked gravely, hoping he hadn't overheard her plans when she was making that bet with Iruka.

Naruto shook his head, "Should I?"

"It's because I'm psychic."

Naruto stared at her silently and from the closet, Iruka mentally sent "smart-waves" towards the blonde.

"I know that embarrassing thing you were doing before you came here!" She proclaimed grandly as Naruto looked shocked. _Really, if _you're_ blushing, it's _got_ to be embarrassing... _"And I brought you here to tell you we don't stand for that sort of thing here in Konoha!"

Meanwhile, in the closet- _No Naruto! Don't fall for it!_

Naruto's eyes widened, but he recomposed himself (disregarding his deep blush) and rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling nervously, "Oi, Baa-chan, I don't know what's so embarrassing about it."

"It's all a matter of perspective, but I saw it! With... _THIS!_" Tsunade pointed at the purple diamond on her forehead that Naruto had ignored any explanations of and so had no idea of its true purpose.

"I don't know what you think you saw but Sasuke and I were just wrestling! While he was giving me CPR! Because he hit me too hard! While we were wrestling! AGH! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Naruto fled the room, intent on going straight to Sasuke and telling him everything that had happened.

The door to Iruka's closet swung open and the two elder nin stared blankly at each other before Iruka spoke up- "Isn't Sasuke a boy's name?"

Tsunade spoke just after him, complete disbelief in her voice, and no little confusion, "I can't believe I _won_."

(o0o0o0o0o0o)

"Ba-kaaaaa!" Sasuke flicked the idiot in the head and sat down with an exasperated sigh- although he still pulled Naruto down on to his lap as well. "From what you've told me those two are the most protective of you out of all the ninja you know- and they also happen to be the strongest!"

"I don't-" Sasuke put a hand over Naruto's mouth.

"I know you don't. Trust me, I _know_. Now then, let's paint a pretty little mental picture for little Naru-chan here, hmm?" Naruto glared at his captor and wiggled his hips against the boy, causing the normally stoic Uchiha to stop. "If you don't _want _to understand, I _could_ just ravish you right now and then die a horrible death." Naruto's brow furrowed, but he stopped moving around. "Good, now then, let's set the scene. There's a very cute guy who attracts danger and friends like rotting meat attracts flies and can't tell the difference between them." Sasuke gave a pointed look to his blonde captive and Naruto rolled his eyes. "Enter two over-protective, high-ranking ninja who are used to trying to keep people from taking advantage of said cute boy. Add in the wonderful man-" Naruto snorted and Sasuke ignored it gracefully, "-who they will automatically think is either using or corrupting the cute boy and the painting will be of the wonderful man's remains being stomped on by the two overprotective ninja while the cute boy sobs in a corner. Get it?" Naruto nodded and bit Sasuke's hand. Sasuke, however, did not retreat as expected and instead bit down on the juncture of neck and shoulder on the smaller ninja. Naruto growled and twisted, trying to get out of Sasuke's grasp. Sasuke responded by smirking against the boy's skin then craning his neck to catch Naruto's lips. After that, of course, Naruto was a little distracted in his quest for freedom and the "distraction" continued on for just a short while when a loud crack accompanied by a thump as the front door met the floor snapped both boys out of their haze.

"NARUTO! YOU BETTER EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" Naruto paled as Iruka's voice slammed through the air and into his eardrums. Neither ninja thought of moving from their position, with Naruto straddling Sasuke's lap on the couch and Sasuke's hands up the back of Naruto's shirt, until it was too late...

Tsunade grasped her chest as if a great blow had been struck to her heart as she entered the room and Iruka clutched Tsunade's arm for support. "Our baby's growing up!" Tsunade exclaimed, and both elder ninja turned to each other and held one another tightly to stay standing.

"I knew he couldn't stay an Academy brat forever but was it too much to ask to know his boyfriend before they made out in his living room?" Iruka wailed.

"I wanted to hear the tongue of his boyfriend speak before it was shoved down Naru-chan's throat!" Tsunade lamented.

"IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK TO HAVE HIM OVER FOR DINNER BEFORE HE'S A PART OF YOU FOREVER?!" They cried together, as if rehearsed.

All the blood was gone from Naruto's face at this point and he pointed at Sasuke, "This is Uchiha Sasuke. We'll all have dinner together at seven."

Iruka patted Naruto's shoulder gravely as Tsunade directed her most infamous death glare at the young Uchiha. They left without another word and Sasuke grimaced as Tsunade pulled the door back into place behind her. "I'm going to have to fix that."

Naruto looked up at him disbelievingly, "_That's_ what you're concerned about."

"I'm amazing. They'll love me." Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruto inspected the normally stoic boy. "It's times like these I don't know if you're joking or not."

Sasuke shoved him off onto the floor and walked jauntily towards his bedroom, "I'm going to change so we can go break pink-girl's heart."

"I don't really _want_ to break her heart!" Naruto called, crossing his arms over his chest, "Can't we all be friends?"

"You don't snog your friends!" Sasuke's voice echoed through the house momentarily before Naruto responded.

"Good point!"


End file.
